Taking to the skies!

The Sky’s The Limit!

On Thursday 6th March 2017 WH Matthews & Co’s very own intrepid adventurer Penny Low took part in a charity sky dive. Here is her account of the day! When I am not in the office preparing documents for court I can often be found on the court [Ed – oh dear!] at my local tennis club in Wallington.

Wallington Tennis Club was established over 40 years ago and has experienced many highs and lows in its relatively brief history. The loss of the club house in 1997 due to fire being a particularly difficult moment for all concerned. 20 years on from that terrible incident the club is performing well, although has recently been in desperate need of two new hard courts. When the charity Bright Ideas for Tennis approached the club with fund raising initiatives I was very keen to get involved, especially when the idea of a tandem skydive was suggested. This was something that had been on my bucket list for some time and so I enthusiastically signed up.

After an initial false start due to poor weather conditions, the jump was eventually rescheduled for early morning on Friday 7th April 2017. Knowing that we had to be at the airfield very early that morning, and not wanting to miss the flight, I travelled with my tennis buddy Jenny up to Cambridgeshire on Thursday 6th April 2017. After a pleasant evening in a Cambridgeshire b’n’b we left for the North London Airfield on the Friday morning, full of nerves and excitement. Well, mainly nerves!

On arrival at the airfield we had a short briefing from a flying ace and got kitted up ready for the jump. Once we had been fully briefed I was paired up with an experienced skydiver called Lloyd and we made our way to aero plane. The flight took us up to an altitude of 12,000 feet and I was advised that I would be first out of the plane. As we made our way to the door I checked with Lloyd that we were definitely attached and, to my great relief, he confirmed we were.

With everything now in place, all there was left to do to fall out of the plane! We were in freefall for 1 minute and because we were travelling so fast, when the parachute opened I felt as if I was being lifted back up into the plane. The glide down was spectacular but Lloyd wanted to perform some tricks and so we did a “corkscrew” manoeuvre, which I must admit made me feel a bit sick. After the corkscrew we practised the landing technique which involved me lift my legs up to my waist and as we hit the ground I was unceremoniously landed safe and sound. I would definitely recommend the experience!